The 2026 Guide to Northern Michigan Short-Term Rentals
Two things moving right now. The Village of Kalkaska moratorium on new short-term rental licences (Ordinance 2025-013, effective 11 August 2025) reached its one-year revisit date on 11 August 2026 — call (231) 258-9191 before assuming it still stands, or that it has lifted. And disincorporation of the Village of Fife Lake was on the 4 August 2026 ballot; if it passed, the village’s uncapped ordinance folds into Fife Lake Township’s rules, which cap licences at 8% of parcels and charge $575 a year.
Investing in Northern Michigan is no longer about buying a view. It is about which side of a township line the parcel sits on. The era of buy it and Airbnb it is over, and the difference between a working investment and a dead one is now measured in ordinance numbers.
This guide covers every township, city and village across five counties — Grand Traverse, Leelanau, Antrim, Benzie and Kalkaska. Eighty-three jurisdictions, each checked against the adopted ordinance rather than against what people say about it. Several of the most repeated claims in this market turn out to be wrong, and those are flagged where they appear.
Within each county the table runs most restrictive first, so the places that will end your search are at the top.
Every Jurisdiction at a Glance
| Jurisdiction | Status | What the rule actually is | Who to call |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Traverse County | |||
| Garfield Township (Grand Traverse) Not allowed in any district, commercial included | BANNED | The township states it outright: short-term rental of a residential dwelling for under 30 days is not allowed in Garfield Township. A full-text search of Zoning Ordinance 68 finds \"Vacation Home Rental\" only in the definitions and a parking table — it is not a permitted or special use in ANY district, including every commercial district. There is no parcel-zoning workaround. Bed and breakfasts, hotels, motels and campgrounds are separate uses with separate standards. A 2024 staff proposal would have allowed STRs in C-L, C-G, C-H and C-P; it was a discussion item, was never adopted, and the FAQ still says no. | Michael Green, Zoning Administrator — (231) 941-1620 |
| Peninsula Township Thirty-day minimum, written into the ordinance | BANNED | Cite the ordinance, not the headlines. Zoning Ordinance section 6.2.2(2)(e), as revised by Amendment 182, says a property owner may rent a non-owner-occupied dwelling provided the minimum rental term is 30 days. That is a flat whole-house STR ban, codifying zoning board determinations from 1999 and 2008. The only short-stay option is an owner-occupied bed and breakfast of three rooms or fewer with the owner living on site. The ordinance is current through October 2025 and the township publishes a weekly tracking document of pending amendments. On the winery litigation: the roughly $49 million judgment is STAYED with bond waived as of March 2026 and is on appeal to the Sixth Circuit, with argument possibly not until late 2026 — no money has been paid, it is a winery case rather than an STR case, and it confers no rights on rental owners. It does tell you how hard this township litigates. | Sara Schroeder, Zoning Administrator — (231) 223-7318 |
| Whitewater Township The rewrite finished, and the answer was no | BANNED | Often still described as mid-rewrite. It is not: the new zoning ordinance took effect 23 October 2025, and it contains no short-term rental use, definition or permit. The township states on its own zoning page that short-term rental of a residential dwelling for under 30 days is not allowed. Short stays are possible only as a bed and breakfast, hotel, motel or campground in the districts that permit them — a B&B needs a special use permit, a minimum one acre, no more than ten sleeping rooms including the innkeepers, and one off-street space per room. | Deb Graber, Zoning Administrator — (231) 267-5141 ext. 21 · cell (231) 499-1340 |
| Grant Township No path for a non-resident investor | CLOSED | The entry most often gotten wrong. There is no STR ordinance and no permit system — the October 2024 zoning ordinance contains not one occurrence of \"short-term rental.\" And it tightened rather than loosened: Amendment 2023-05, adopted 20 March 2023, REMOVED Tourist Homes from the residential special-use list. They survive only in the B-1 business district by special use permit, and the ordinance grants special use permits only where the owner or operator resides on the parcel. The one residential option left is an owner-occupied bed and breakfast of up to four bedrooms with planning commission approval. Buy here to live in, not to rent out. | Darren Albrecht, Zoning Administrator — (231) 968-4463 |
| Acme Township Whole-house rentals are barred from residential land | RESTRICTED | The cap of 100 is split 50 Tourist Homes / 50 Vacation Homes and the township says there are many licences available — but that is not the constraint. The constraint is district: a VACATION home (whole-house, nobody living there) is allowed ONLY in the agricultural district and in existing single-family dwellings in commercial districts. Tourist homes, where you live there and host, are allowed in every district. Fees $100 tourist / $300 vacation. Permits do not transfer on sale or between properties. Over-subscription is settled by lottery, renewing holders first. Local agent within 30 miles, available 24 hours, responding within 60 minutes. Watch: the draft Master Plan carries a priority action to require septic inspections at annual renewal. | Lindsey Wolf, Planning and Zoning Administrator — (231) 938-1350 |
| Village of Kingsley Commercial districts only, by special land use | RESTRICTED | The village adopted an entirely new zoning ordinance on 18 November 2025 that defines short-term rentals for the first time — and allows them only as a Special Land Use in the two commercial districts, C-1 and C-2. They are not permitted in any residential district, nor in flood plain or industrial. Buying a house in a Kingsley residential neighbourhood to rent short-term is a dead end. There is no cap, no fee and no occupancy standard in the ordinance; everything runs through the special land use process, so conditions are set case by case. Bed and breakfasts remain a special use in all four residential districts, owner-occupied with up to three guest bedrooms. Note Paradise Township around it has no STR licence at all. | Contracted zoning administrator — (231) 360-2557 ext. 6 · Village Manager Charlie Jetter (231) 263-7778 ext. 3 |
| Fife Lake Township Capped at 8% of parcels, priciest permit in the county | TECHNICAL | Ordinance 2025.02.001, adopted 27 February 2025, caps total licences at 8% of township parcels as of 31 December of the prior year, first-come first-served, with a right to petition the board. The fee is $575 a year — the highest of any Grand Traverse jurisdiction, so drop any assumption of a cheap entry. Licence expires 31 December or on change of ownership, whichever comes first. Occupancy is 2 per conforming bedroom plus 2 aged 15 and under, or the county health department septic limit, whichever is lower. Caretaker within 30 minutes, notarised. Accessory dwellings not eligible. Fines to $500 a day. The Village of Fife Lake inside it has NO cap — and its disincorporation was on the 4 August 2026 ballot, which would fold it into these rules. | Marv Radtke, Zoning Administrator — (231) 879-3963 ext. 302 |
| Green Lake Township Septic sets the ceiling | TECHNICAL | An annual licence, not a certificate. No cap. $525 a year. Occupancy is the LESSER of 2 per legally conforming bedroom plus 2 aged 15 and under, or what the county health department and your well-and-septic report allow — on older lakefront cottages the septic number is what binds, so get the evaluation before you model any guest count. If the septic fails, rental stops immediately until the county signs off. Caretaker reachable at all times and within 30 minutes travel. Licence expires 31 December or on change of ownership. Accessory dwellings not eligible. | Jason Hamilton, Zoning Administrator — (231) 276-9329 ext. 106 |
| Long Lake Township The certificate dies when the house sells | TECHNICAL | No cap, but two things matter more. First, the certificate is valid one year OR until the dwelling is sold, whichever comes first — a buyer does not inherit it. Second, occupancy runs off septic: overnight maximum is the number of bedrooms the septic is designed for times two, and daytime maximum is that times 1.5. A septic inspection under three years old is required. Caretaker reachable at all times and within 30 minutes. Fee $600. Renewals accepted from 1 October. No moratorium was found — reports of one appear to confuse a lake dredging moratorium and East Bay Township. | Matt Jerome, Zoning Administrator — (231) 534-4284 · STR programme: Greg Hornkohl (231) 534-4283 |
| Paradise Township No STR licence exists — only an owner-occupied B&B | TECHNICAL | There is no short-term rental ordinance and no STR licence. The 2022 zoning ordinance contains no STR provision and none of the townships other 19 ordinances touch rentals. What exists is a Bed and Breakfast / Tourist House: an owner-occupied private home with up to three bedrooms converted for guests, permitted in Forest-Recreational and by special use permit in R-1 and R-2, capped at six rooms and twelve people, with sleeping rooms inside the primary residence. That route costs $400 plus a $1,500 escrow and takes three to six months. The Village of Kingsley inside it has its own, stricter rules. | Jenn Cram, AICP, Zoning and Planning Administrator — (231) 263-5251 |
| East Bay Township One application window a year — next is March 2027 | PERMIT | Not permanently closed, as is widely believed. The township allots 145 licences and releases them through an annual first-come first-served window. The 2026 window closed 17 March at 8pm; the next opens in March 2027, and the township publishes the number available as it approaches. Fee $450 for both new and renewal, renewals due 1 November. Seven-night minimum stay — one rental per calendar week. Licences do not transfer on sale except to immediate family. The harder constraint is structural: a 1,000-foot buffer between any new and existing STR. Applies in all districts, never to an accessory dwelling unit. Plan around the March window. | Claire Karner, Director of Planning and Zoning — (231) 947-8681 ext. 2 |
| Mayfield Township There is a permit, and it is not cheap | PERMIT | Not unregulated, as often assumed. The township runs a Short Term Rental application at $500 initial and $250 renewal, expiring 31 March each year, signed off by both the planning commission chair and the zoning administrator, with conditions attachable. The application demands a legal description, parcel map, proof of ownership, zoning of your parcel and its neighbours, driveways within 100 feet, bedroom count, the most recent health department septic evaluation and water quality report, waste hauler details, and a person contactable 24 hours. The enabling ordinance is not posted, so occupancy and response-time standards cannot be read. The township keeps no regular office hours. | Tim Lueck, Zoning Administrator — (231) 263-4599 ext. 4 |
| Village of Fife Lake No cap — but disincorporation was on the August 2026 ballot | PERMIT | Ordinance 2025-07-01, adopted 27 May 2025 and effective 10 August 2025, allows short-term rentals anywhere in the village with an annual licence and explicitly imposes NO cap, while reserving the right to add one. Accessory dwellings are not eligible. Occupancy is 2 per legally conforming bedroom or studio plus 2 persons per dwelling aged 15 and under, or the county health department septic limit, whichever is less. Caretaker within 30 minutes and reachable at all times; immediate issues resolved immediately, others within five days. The licence expires 31 December or on change of ownership, whichever comes first — a buyer applies fresh. Renewals open 1 October. Quiet hours 11pm to 7am, no on-street parking of boats or trailers, licence number in every advertisement, and rental must stop immediately if the septic fails. Fines to $500 a day. TIME-SENSITIVE: disincorporation of the village was on the 4 August 2026 ballot. If it passed, this uncapped regime likely gives way to Fife Lake Townships 8% cap and $575 fee. | Jayme Werner, Village Clerk — (231) 879-4291 |
| Traverse City (City) — Grand Traverse County portion The zoning district decides everything | VARIES | Two separate regimes. A vacation home rental — whole-house, nobody living there — is defined in code as a COMMERCIAL use and is prohibited in every residential district: RC, R-1a, R-1b, R-2, R-3. It is allowed in HR, C-1 through C-4, D-1, D-2, D-3, T and Industrial. In C-1, C-2 and D-2 the parcel must hold two or more dwellings and the maximum is the GREATER of 1 or 25% of them — so a two-unit parcel can hold one, which single-family buyers often miss. No first-floor rentals downtown in C-4. Whether Industrial is capped at 25% or uncapped is genuinely disputed between the ordinance cross-references and the citys own planning table; get a written determination before relying on it. There is no occupancy limit and no caretaker requirement for vacation home rentals. Transfers ARE possible but must be approved within 90 days of closing or the right is extinguished permanently. Fees $200 vacation / $100 tourist home, expiring 31 December, inspection every three years, fines from $500 a day. The only rental allowed in a residential neighbourhood is a tourist home, where you live in the house and are there overnight: two to three rooms, two adults per room, and a 1,000-foot spacing rule at the high-intensity tier. A tourist home and a registered accessory dwelling cannot coexist on one parcel. Over 500 vacation home rentals were licensed as of December 2024. The planning commission recommended cutting district caps in May 2025 and commissioners agreed in June 2026 to revisit it, but nothing has been adopted and staff expect the work to run into 2027. | Zoning: Dave Weston (231) 922-4464 · Licences: City Clerk (231) 922-4480 |
| Union Township Genuinely unresolved — get it in writing | VERIFY | Correcting a widely repeated error: there is no permit system and no caretaker requirement here. The only zoning ordinance the township posts is revised 13 December 2004 and contains no reference to short-term rentals, bed and breakfasts, caretakers or rental permits of any kind. That is not the same as friendly. A 2004 ordinance that never contemplated STRs leaves the question open, and Michigan case law is unkind to owners who assume silence means permission. Get the zoning administrator position in writing before you write an offer. | Eric Johnson, Zoning Administrator — (989) 350-6825 · Township Hall (231) 369-3261 |
| Blair Township Unregulated, on the available evidence | OPEN | No STR licensing programme exists and the fee schedule adopted 1 July 2026 has no rental line of any kind. Mostly residential and commuter, so tourism demand is lower than the water-access townships — buy here on affordability, not peak nightly rate. One honest caveat: Blair does not publish its zoning ordinance online, it sells a printed copy for $75. Everything observable says unregulated, but nobody has read the primary document. | Lisa Guerrieri — (231) 276-9263 ext. 113 |
| Leelanau County | |||
| Village of Suttons Bay The permit dies at closing — a trap for buyers | SATURATED | The cap is 45 and the village currently has 53 permits issued, coming down by attrition; it states it will not issue new permits until the count reaches 45. Down from 61 in late 2022. The critical fact, in the villages own words: short term rental permits are non-transferrable — if the home is sold, the permit is no longer valid. Buying a house with a permit buys you nothing. Fees, occupancy limits and caretaker rules are not published, so ask. A consultants 2022 recommendation of 25 licences across six districts is often quoted as rule; it was never adopted. Suttons Bay Township outside the village limits is an entirely separate regime. | Village office — (231) 271-3051 · complaint hotline (231) 715-5419 |
| Bingham Township Capped at 86 — and there was room | PERMIT | Widely assumed to be closed. It is not. The cap is 86 and the township published 7 licences still open as of 19 June 2026, issued first-come first-served with no waitlist. Fee $300 a year. Renewals open 1 October with a hard 1 March deadline — miss it and your permit goes back to the open pool. Occupancy is the lesser of 10 occupants or the bedrooms approved on the health department permit. A designated 24-hour local contact is required, with no stated mileage or response-time standard. Septic maintenance within three years and a site plan with parking are required. The permit is not transferable to a new owner. | Steve Patmore, Zoning Administrator — (231) 922-6767 ext. 5 |
| Cleveland Township Capped at 36 and full as of late 2025 | PERMIT | The cap is 36, set by board policy rather than the ordinance text. It went from 31 issued in May 2025 to full with 6 on the waitlist in November 2025 and 7 by December. The board voted to hold the cap at 36 through 2026 rather than expand it, and no 2026 count has been published — so the newest figure available is months old and worth a call. Fee $350 a year; the waitlist fee is refunded after 30 days and a notified applicant has 10 days to resubmit. Occupancy 2 per bedroom, hard cap 12, children under 3 excluded. Local contact must live within 30 miles and be reachable 24 hours, and the township mails their number to neighbours within 300 feet. Allowed in Agricultural and R-1, R-2, R-3. Does not run with the property. | Scott Sheehan, Zoning Administrator — (231) 715-1103 |
| Elmwood Township Capped at 93 and full as of January 2026 | PERMIT | The cap is 93, derived as 4% of dwelling units. The township states no licences are available with 7 applications on the waitlist as of 29 January 2026 — that is the newest published figure, so confirm before ruling it out. Fees are $600 new, $300 renewal, $100 waitlist, on separate cheques. The renewal window is 1 to 31 October only; anything outside it is rejected. Allowed in every zoning district including residential. Owner or manager must live within 30 miles and respond immediately. Not transferable on sale. A licence is required before you advertise, and three violations in a year triggers revocation. The township solicited compliance-monitoring bids from Granicus in 2021, so unlicensed operation carries real risk. Watch the proposed Cherry Bend Neighborhood District overlay in Greilickville, which would bar new STRs there while grandfathering existing ones. | Sarah Clarren, Planner / Zoning Administrator — (231) 946-0921 |
| Leelanau Township Strict occupancy, no cap (Northport area) | PERMIT | Ordinance No. 3 of 2020, permits required since January 2021, applying outside the Village of Northport limits. No numeric cap — the strictness is about occupancy, not scarcity. Three guests per bedroom with a hard maximum of 15 over age 5. Bedroom count can be established by septic permit, building permit or floor plan, not solely by the health department. The local contact must be within 45 minutes travel time and reachable 24 hours — a distinctive standard worth noting. The permit is not transferable and does not run with ownership. The fee is set separately by board resolution. | Steve Patmore, Zoning Administrator — leelanautownshipzoning@gmail.com |
| Suttons Bay Township Capped at 150 — and it is not the village | PERMIT | Two things commonly get muddled. First, the township IS capped, at 150 permits per year issued first-come first-served — generous rather than binding, with no evidence it has been reached, but a cap nonetheless. Second, transferability is now confirmed rather than uncertain: permits are NOT transferable from one owner to another and a new application is required on sale. Fee $200 a year. Residential districts only. Renewals run 1 October to 28 February with processing from 1 March. Owner-occupied room rentals fall under bed and breakfast rules instead. The Village of Suttons Bay inside it is a completely different regime. | Steve Patmore, Zoning Administrator — (231) 271-2722 ext. 3 |
| Village of Northport Registration required, no cap | PERMIT | Ordinance 111, amended 16 April 2026, requires registration with the Village Manager before renting for fewer than 30 consecutive days with the owner absent. There is no cap, no occupancy formula and no caretaker requirement in the ordinance. It does NOT require a special use permit — a second approval track is sometimes assumed from planning commission agendas, but the ordinance text does not create one; ask whether your parcel triggers site plan review. Transferability is not addressed, so ask about that too. Operating unregistered is $200, then $200 a day after a seven-day cure period, and three violations trigger revocation. Fees are set separately by council resolution. Leelanau Township outside the village caps guests at 15. | Jered Ottenwess, Village Manager / Zoning — (231) 386-5182 ext. 13 |
| Traverse City (City) — Leelanau County portion The zoning district decides everything | VARIES | This is the Leelanau County portion of the City of Traverse City, governed by the same code. A vacation home rental is prohibited in every residential district — RC, R-1a, R-1b, R-2, R-3 — and permitted only in the commercial, hotel-resort, development, transportation and industrial districts, with a limit of the greater of 1 or 25% of dwellings on the parcel in C-1, C-2 and D-2. The only rental allowed in a residential neighbourhood is an owner-occupied tourist home. Licence transfers must be approved within 90 days of closing. Pull the zoning district for the exact parcel before anything else. | Zoning: Dave Weston (231) 922-4464 · Licences: City Clerk (231) 922-4480 |
| Village of Empire Approved by the planners, not yet by the council | VOLATILE | A very different posture from Empire Township. The village planning commission approved a zoning amendment on 2 June 2026 defining short-term rentals and requiring owners simply to REGISTER them — permitted in single-family, two-family, multi-family and accessory dwelling units anywhere in the village. It has NOT been adopted by the village council. A public hearing and regular meeting was held 28 July 2026 with minutes not yet posted, so call before advising anyone. Commissioners deliberately deferred any cap, intending to use a year or two of registration data first. A 2024 committee had floated 14% of housing stock measured against 373 residences, which the minutes calculated as leaving roughly SIX slots for new rentals — that was never adopted. STR density measured 17.3% in 2023. The zoning administrator keeps office hours on Friday mornings only. | Robert Hall, Zoning Administrator — (231) 429-6703, Fridays 8:30-11:30am |
| Empire Township Hostility is assumed, not documented | VERIFY | The common claim that Empire Township is moving toward prohibition could not be tied to any adopted ordinance or published document. Treat the reputation as unverified. What is real and current: the planning commission held a special meeting on 28 July 2026 to review the zoning ordinance and potentially set a public hearing on amendments. Call before you assume either way. Note the Village of Empire inside it is moving in the opposite direction — toward simple registration with no cap. | Sara Kopriva — (231) 674-5377 · Township office (231) 326-5182 |
| Glen Arbor Township No ordinance exists — the barrier is unwritten | VERIFY | The often-repeated claim that STRs are restricted to the Business District is not written anywhere. A full-text search of the current zoning ordinance, version 5.1 dated 13 November 2025, finds no reference to short-term rentals, vacation rentals or tourist homes, and the townships ordinance list contains no STR ordinance. What the ordinance does contain is inns, lodges, hotels and rooming houses, and rental cottages, as permitted uses in R5, R6 and the resort and recreational districts. So the practical wall may well be high, but there is no rule to point to — status depends on how the zoning administrator classifies the use. Get that classification in writing before you buy. | Marvin Radtke, Zoning Administrator — (231) 631-7171 |
| Leland Township Registration exists; the details do not check out | VERIFY | What is confirmable is a 2020 police-powers ordinance requiring short-term rentals to register, intended to count them and collect emergency contact information, funded by a small registration fee. The widely repeated claim that occupancy is tied to septic capacity could NOT be verified — no Leland STR ordinance appears in the townships ordinance list. Do not rely on that. Land use permits now run through Cloudpermit. Note the county website page for Leland is stale and still lists a zoning administrator who died in April 2026. | Steve Patmore, Zoning Administrator — (231) 866-0799 · Township office (231) 256-7546 |
| Solon Township A draft ordinance has been on the table since September 2025 | VERIFY | Previously described as having no ordinance and no sign of one. That is now stale: a Short Term Rental Ordinance draft dated 2 September 2025 sits in the townships document centre and has for nearly a year. It has not been adopted, but the vague \"rules could appear at any time\" hedge should be read as a concrete draft awaiting action. Until then STRs appear to fall under general zoning without caps or permits. Watch this one closely and confirm status before closing. | Sara Kopriva, Zoning Administrator — (231) 590-9021 |
| Kasson Township No STR ordinance at all | UNREGULATED | No dedicated ordinance — no permit, no cap, no registration, no minimum stay. The zoning ordinance never mentions short-term rentals. Two indirect catches. It defines family as no more than five unrelated people living together, which is the likeliest enforcement hook against a large-group rental. And any use the ordinance does not list can be classified by the zoning board of appeals, so a challenge would be decided at discretion. Being inland rather than lakeshore has kept the pressure off, but every Leelanau neighbour has moved. Get the administrators position in writing. | Scott Sheehan, Zoning Administrator — (231) 633-4002 |
| Centerville Township Good value | OPEN | No short-term rental ordinance. The townships ordinance list covers private roads, civil infractions, parks, fireworks, septic and well, and land division — nothing on rentals. Zoning ordinance effective 1 November 2024. Less regulation than its neighbours with good overflow from Good Harbor Bay, so worth a look if you are priced out of the waterfront townships. The septic and well ordinance is the most likely practical constraint on a large-group rental here. | Scott Sheehan, Zoning Administrator — (231) 633-4002 |
| Antrim County | |||
| Milton Township Six rental weeks a year, and the licence dies at closing | RESTRICTED | A comprehensive Vacation Rental Ordinance was adopted 27 October 2025 and took effect 29 November 2025, replacing the old renter-log regime. The two facts that end most investment cases: a licence is VOID on transfer of ownership, with only immediate-family and certain entity or trust transfers surviving, and a property may be rented no more than SIX weeks per calendar year, no more than two weeks in any four-week period, with a seven-day minimum rental. Properties in the Village district are exempt from the week limits. Add a 1,000-foot spacing rule between vacation rentals, occupancy the lesser of 2 per bedroom or 10 overnight and never more than 14 on the property, a local contact within 45 minutes available 24 hours whose details go to every neighbour within 300 feet, one parking space per bedroom plus one, a three-year renter log, and advance reporting of rental dates. Licence year runs 1 November to 31 October with a 1 to 25 October renewal window. An October 2025 draft would have issued no new licences at all and phased rentals out entirely; that did not survive, so do not repeat it as law. | Sara Kopriva, Zoning Administrator — (231) 264-6697 |
| Torch Lake Township One overlay district, and nowhere else | RESTRICTED | The often-quoted \"pre-1983 commercial uses only\" rule does not exist in any ordinance — 1983 was simply the original effective date of an ordinance that has since been repealed and replaced. The current zoning ordinance was adopted 5 September 2024 and took effect 19 September 2024. In its 143 pages the phrase short term rental appears exactly once: as a Special Land Use in the Village Business Overlay District, which covers only lots in the Village District with direct frontage on US-31, M-88 or Barnes Park Road. STRs are not listed in any other districts use table, and under a permissive-list ordinance that means not allowed. The ordinance also contains no definition of short-term rental and no operating standards — a genuine drafting gap. | Sara Kopriva, Zoning Administrator — (231) 599-2036 ext. 105 |
| Kearney Township Resort Residential is the hook, but a soft one | TECHNICAL | The Resort Residential districts purpose statement expressly contemplates short-term overnight rental accommodations — but STRs are not an enumerated permitted use in that district, they appear in the purpose language. The permitted uses are single-family and multiple-family dwellings plus resort retail and service, at a maximum of one dwelling or three motel rooms per acre, all subject to site plan review. Every other district is silent rather than prohibitive. So parcel zoning matters, but it is less decisive than usually claimed. Verify against the updated map: in February 2026 the planning commission rezoned North Schuss Village parcels to Resort Residential and resolved split Centennial Hills parcels as wholly RR, and a broader ordinance revision is in draft. | Zoning Administrator — (231) 533-5719 ext. 5 |
| Banks Township The zoning repeal failed — this is settled now | PERMIT | Often still described as volatile because the township moved to repeal its zoning entirely. That question is resolved: the board rejected the repeal 3 to 2 in March 2026 and zoning is retained and actively in use, with two amendments adopted in July 2026 and a data centre moratorium under consideration. On rentals, the zoning ordinance defines a short-term rental at section 4.29 — under 30 days, owner not residing, four or fewer unrelated persons — and a June 2020 STR ordinance is cited as permitting them in any single-family dwelling in all districts. That ordinance is no longer posted on the township site, so its terms cannot be confirmed from public records — get them in writing before relying on them. | Kurtis Busman, Zoning Administrator — (231) 676-2414 |
| Village of Elk Rapids Open and issuing — but transfers may be about to end | PERMIT | Commonly described as closed. It is not: the villages own 2026 licence list shows 66 active registrations including 12 issued in the first five months of 2026 and 8 in 2025. There is no fixed cap in the ordinance — the number is set by council resolution each December. Priority goes to applicants whose principal residence exemption is in the village. Occupancy is 2 per bedroom plus 2 per finished legal floor, hard cap 10. The designated representative must respond within 60 minutes and be able to be on site within 60 minutes — a time standard, not a mileage one. Fees: $300 business licence in person or $250 online, $30 personal unit registration, $25 waitlist. TIME-SENSITIVE: today a buyer of a grandfathered unit may apply within 45 days of transfer and keep operating, but proposed Ordinance 2026-17 would prohibit transfers except to immediate family, within an entity, or to a trust beneficiary. Third reading was set for 16 June 2026 and no adoption notice has been posted. If you are under contract, call the village now. | Sara Kopriva, AICP, Planning / Zoning Administrator — (231) 808-3331 |
| Village of Ellsworth Silence works against you here | VERIFY | No STR ordinance exists, but the structure of the 2020 zoning ordinance is what matters: it is permissive-use, and it says so — if a use is not allowed in a district, the table is simply left blank. Short-term rentals appear nowhere in the regulated uses table. So unlike most unregulated jurisdictions, the absence of rules cuts against a buyer rather than for one. Correcting a common error about the fallback: bed and breakfasts are special approval in R-1, R-2 and R-3, permitted BY RIGHT in R-4, and NOT allowed at all in C-1, C-2 or the recreation district — so shopping commercial property expecting a by-right B&B walks into a wall. The ordinance also defines Tourist Home broadly, which is the hook a zoning administrator would use against a whole-house rental. Get a written zoning opinion before closing. | Village office — (231) 588-7411 |
| Helena Township The waterfront rules just tightened, and STRs are next | WATCH | The old framing — focused on watercraft rather than rentals — is directionally right but now has hard numbers behind it. An amendment effective 5 June 2026 caps powered watercraft by frontage at four for the first 100 feet plus one per additional 25 feet, maximum eight per property; prohibits marinas in R-1; prohibits new boathouses; and provides that no dock space or watercraft shall be rented. That is a direct hit on how a waterfront rental gets marketed. Short-term rentals were named a top issue in the townships 2026 community engagement, so expect an ordinance. The zoning administrator position is in transition and the township is advertising for a successor. | Zoning Administrator (position in transition) — township office (231) 331-4643 |
| Mancelona Township Unzoned — but a master plan just landed | WATCH | Unzoned, with no STR ordinance, so entry is cheap and unregulated today. It also has the deepest ordinance stack of the seven — 24 ordinances including nuisance, junkyard, inoperable vehicles, public entertainment and civil infractions, plus an enforcement officer. The reason to watch it: the joint Mancelona Area Planning Commission adopted a 2025-2030 master plan in June 2025, the township appointed two members to it in March 2026 and funded it in May 2026. A master plan is the statutory predicate for adopting zoning. Nothing has been adopted, but this is the one of the seven showing forward motion — worth knowing on a ten-year hold. The Village of Mancelona inside it is separately zoned. | Clerk, Michael Biehl — (231) 587-8651 |
| Central Lake Township Unzoned — no rules to comply with | UNREGULATED | Central Lake Township is one of Antrim Countys unzoned townships. It has no zoning ordinance at all, and therefore no STR permit, cap, fee, occupancy limit, caretaker rule or district framework. The \"Good Neighbor policy\" often attributed to it could not be found in any document — that phrase belongs to the Village of Elk Rapids. Open on the merits, but the openness comes from an absence of rules rather than a policy choice, so there is no written protection either. The Village of Central Lake inside it is separately zoned. | Township office — (231) 544-6687 |
| Chestonia Township Unzoned — but not ruleless | UNREGULATED | One of Antrim Countys seven unzoned townships, confirmed against the countys own published list and every county planning commission packet from February 2025 through August 2026. No zoning means no STR rules and a low entry price — but also no protection from an incompatible use next door. Unzoned townships can still enforce police-power ordinances such as nuisance and blight, so no zoning is not no rules. Chestonia has no township website, so verification means a phone call. | Clerk, Nancy Shepard — (231) 584-3222 |
| Custer Township Unzoned, with active blight enforcement | UNREGULATED | One of Antrim Countys seven unzoned townships. No zoning means no STR rules and a low entry price — but Custer staffs an ordinance officer whose job is expressly to enforce non-zoning ordinances, and he logged 13 open violation complaints in June 2026 covering garbage, trash, vehicles and tyres. So police-power enforcement here is real and active even without zoning. No STR ordinance and no rental registration. | Clerk, Stacy Simon — (231) 587-4773 · Ordinance Officer Jeff Helmboldt (231) 587-5118 |
| Echo Township Unzoned — the best-documented of the seven | UNREGULATED | County planning staff stated in writing in January 2026 that Echo Township has neither a master plan nor a zoning ordinance. Eighteen months of board minutes through July 2026 contain no mention of zoning, rentals or short-term rentals — the only ordinance discussion in that period was a resident request for a wake boat ban on Six Mile Lake. No zoning means no STR rules and a low entry price, and no protection from a neighbouring use. | Clerk, Diane Kucharek — (231) 544-2516 |
| Elk Rapids Township No STR rules — the licensing regime is the Village | UNREGULATED | This entry is frequently confused with the Village of Elk Rapids, which is a separate government on a separate code. The TOWNSHIP zoning ordinance, amended through 18 December 2025, contains zero references to short-term rentals — no licence, no cap, no occupancy rule, no cutoff date. The only lodging regulation is a Bed and Breakfast by special use permit in R-1, R-2 and R-3: owner-occupied, four rooms or fewer, guests limited to seven consecutive days, and no second B&B within 2,500 feet. Everything about March 2019 cutoffs, annual licensing and 30-mile caretakers belongs to the Village, not here. | Larry Nix, Zoning Administrator — (616) 822-6282 · Assistant: Creston Scheel (231) 264-9333 |
| Forest Home Township No ordinance and nothing to licence | UNREGULATED | Often described as an easy place to get licensed. There is nothing to get licensed for: the zoning ordinance as amended through June 2025 contains no short-term rental or vacation rental provisions at all, and the fee schedule has no STR line. The online permit portal is for general zoning and land use permits. Lodging is handled only through bed and breakfast or boarding house provisions with additional site plan review, and a motel as a special land use. Unregulated is a better and more accurate pitch than easy. | Stephen C. Barnard, Zoning Administrator — (231) 203-4031 |
| Jordan Township Unzoned, but four ordinances on the books | UNREGULATED | One of Antrim Countys seven unzoned townships, so no STR rules and a low entry price. But no rules at all overstates it: Jordan posts ORV, nuisance, fireworks and cemetery ordinances and staffs an ordinance officer. No zoning also means no protection from an incompatible neighbouring use. | Clerk, Cole Vining — (231) 459-5310 |
| Star Township Unzoned, with a blight ordinance | UNREGULATED | One of Antrim Countys seven unzoned townships — no STR rules, low entry price, no protection from a neighbouring use. Star does maintain a Blight Elimination Ordinance adopted under police power, with a designated blight officer. It posts no board minutes online, so recent activity could not be reviewed; treat the unzoned status as confirmed and the rest as unverified. | Supervisor Robert Marsh / Clerk Phyllis Hoogerhyde — (231) 584-3308 |
| Village of Bellaire No STR ordinance, and it is still amending around it | UNREGULATED | No short-term rental, vacation rental or rental registration ordinance exists — a full search of the 95-page zoning ordinance and the entire code turns up nothing beyond a slip-rental reference inside the definition of commercial marina. Notably the village amended its zoning ordinance three times in 2025, in April, August and November, and none of those amendments touched rentals, which strengthens rather than weakens the finding. Nuisance and noise chapters still apply. Bed and breakfasts are a special use in R-1, R-2 and R-3 and permitted in the village centre. | Angela St. Pierre, Clerk / Zoning Administrator — (231) 533-8213 |
| Village of Central Lake No STR ordinance on a 2006 code | UNREGULATED | No dedicated short-term rental, vacation rental or rental registration ordinance appears anywhere in the village ordinance list. The governing document is a zoning ordinance adopted 11 December 2006 and effective 13 February 2007, which contemplates only bed and breakfasts and hotels, both requiring special approval from the planning commission. So there is no permit to obtain — but also no written protection, which leaves status ambiguous if anyone challenges it. Nuisance and dangerous structures chapters apply. The surrounding Central Lake Township is unzoned entirely. | Village office — (231) 544-6483 |
| Village of Mancelona No STR ordinance in a 202-page code | UNREGULATED | No short-term rental or rental registration ordinance exists anywhere in the zoning ordinance or the 45-chapter village code, and all 55 posted council, planning commission and DDA minutes contain no STR discussion. The most recent amendment, effective December 2024, covered accessory buildings, shipping containers, outdoor storage, signs and murals — not rentals. Worth knowing: section 6.8 permits renting rooms within a single-family detached dwelling, capped at two rental rooms, no separate kitchen, one parking space per room. Noise and nuisance ordinances apply. The surrounding Mancelona Township is unzoned entirely. | Maureen Naumcheff, Clerk — (231) 587-8331 |
| Warner Township Unzoned, and the board just said so out loud | UNREGULATED | One of Antrim Countys seven unzoned townships. Every board minute from January 2025 through July 2026 was reviewed: no zoning, no STR, no rental registration. The 1 July 2026 minutes record a motion to adopt the option of allowing property owners to do what they like on their own property — a board affirmatively declining to regulate, one month ago. Low entry price, no rules, and no protection from a neighbouring use. | Clerk, Pam Zaremba — (231) 342-5628 |
| Benzie County | |||
| Frankfort (City) A 120-permit ceiling and a real waiting list | SATURATED | The ordinance language is softer than usually reported: section 7404.C says the city RESERVES THE RIGHT to limit permits to 120 per calendar year. The city does not publish its current count or waitlist length anywhere — that figure only comes from the clerk. The 15-day succession window is real but lives in the Administration of Short Term Rental Policy rather than the ordinance: permits terminate at closing and cannot be assigned, but a buyer who contacts the city within 15 days of closing and pays the fee steps into the sellers slot. Miss it and the slot goes to the first name on the list, who gets 15 days to claim it. Fees are $500 for one year, $750 for two, $1,000 for three. Two units per owner, three grandfathered pre-2023. Occupancy 2 per legal bedroom plus 4. Local contact 24 hours with a 60-minute response. No weddings, showers or bachelor parties. Applies in the East, West and North City Residential and Rural districts. On 14 July 2026 the planning commission ENCOURAGED a cap reduction and suggested 110 — no motion, no draft, and the September hearing covers sign, fence, story and blight ordinances, not STRs. A subcommittee is separately drafting rules for the Waterfront, Main Street West and Main Street East districts. | Christine Spence, City Clerk / Treasurer — (231) 352-7117 |
| Almira Township Major site plan review at $500, plus $250 a year | TECHNICAL | The township fee schedule (zoning ordinance §9.04) prices a Major Site Plan / Amendment covering STR, Tourist Home and B&B at $500.00, with Renewal of Short-Term Rental or Tourist Home at $250.00 annually. For scale, a single-family zoning permit in the same schedule is $50. Zoning Ordinance #25-01 took effect 28 August 2025, superseding the June 2024 version. The cost structure exists to discourage casual hosts, so budget the compliance cost before running your numbers. The Village of Lake Ann sits inside this township and has its own 2024 ordinance. Verified 2 August 2026 against the township fee schedule. | Kate Preston, Zoning Administrator — (231) 275-5862 |
| Benzonia Township Joint zoning, shared with Platte Township | TECHNICAL | Operates under the West Benzie Joint Zoning Ordinance, adopted jointly with PLATTE Township — worth naming, because the two are governed by one document. There are no dedicated STR provisions. Bed and breakfasts are a special use and require the residence to be the principal dwelling on the property and owner-occupied at all times. The ordinance also carries an orphaned \"Dwelling, Rental Cottage\" definition with a one-week minimum that is never referenced in any district use table, so its enforceability is doubtful. The Village of Benzonia inside it runs an actual STR permit programme. | Jason Barnard, Zoning Administrator — (231) 882-4411 |
| Blaine Township A one-week minimum that may not be enforceable | TECHNICAL | The zoning ordinance defines \"Dwelling, Rental Cottage\" as occupancy by no more than ten individuals for a duration of no less than one week, at two people per bedroom. The catch: that term appears ONLY in the definitions section and is never used in any district use table or operative provision, so the one-week minimum has no clear enforcement hook. The same orphaned definition sits in the West Benzie ordinance next door. Do not plan a nightly-rental business around this being unenforceable, but do not assume it is settled either — ask the zoning administrator directly. | Josh Mills, Zoning Administrator — (231) 651-9117 |
| Homestead Township Site plan review, not the one-per-owner rule people cite | TECHNICAL | Correcting a widespread error: there is NO one-unit-per-owner rule here — that provision belongs to Crystal Lake Township. What the Homestead Inland Joint Zoning Ordinance actually does at section 3.13 is permit short-term rentals in any district where single-family dwellings are permitted, subject to Planning Commission approval through Site Plan Review, plus a zoning permit and a fee set by board resolution. It then imposes detailed habitability standards: minimum room dimensions, seven-foot ceilings, 70 square feet for a one-occupant bedroom and 50 per occupant beyond, bathroom access, and off-street parking scaled to occupancy. The unit must be non-owner-occupied to fall under the definition at all. Violations are a nuisance per se. No cap, no minimum stay, no local-contact rule. | Marvin Radtke, Zoning Administrator — (231) 631-7171 |
| Inland Township Joint zoning with Homestead — site plan review applies | TECHNICAL | Not the open field it is usually described as. Inland is a co-adopter of the Homestead Inland Joint Zoning Ordinance, so section 3.13 applies here identically: short-term rentals are permitted in any district that allows single-family dwellings, but require Planning Commission Site Plan Review plus a zoning permit and fee, and the unit must be non-owner-occupied. The same habitability and parking standards apply. That is a real process with a real timeline, not an absence of rules. | Jim Weller, Zoning Administrator — (231) 383-1229 |
| Crystal Lake Township One licence per owner, capped at 75 | PERMIT | No longer speculative — an STR ordinance was adopted 19 March 2025, took effect 2 May 2025, and was amended twice more in January and February 2026. The cap is 75 licences a year granted in order of completed application, with the board able to raise or lower it by resolution after a hearing. The provision that matters most for investors: an owner may hold only ONE licence and may not operate more than one dwelling unit for short-term rental at a time, duplexes and triplexes included. Occupancy 2 per legal bedroom plus 2, hard maximum 12 with children and infants counted. Local contact 24 hours with a one-hour response. $500 first-year application fee. Licences do not run with the land, but transfer to a buyer within the calendar year is possible if the new owner registers 30 days BEFORE the transfer date — plan that into the contract. | Tom Kucera — (231) 352-9791 · STR questions: Elaine Walton ext. 6 |
| Lake Township Licensed and capped, not banned | PERMIT | The much-quoted line that short-term rentals are \"frequently incompatible with residential uses and often constitute a public nuisance\" is genuinely in the ordinance — but it is recital boilerplate that also appears in Frankforts, and the ordinance licenses STRs rather than banning them. Ordinance 2023-001, adopted September 2023 and effective 30 November 2023, sets an annual cap of 75 licences, a maximum of two per owner, occupancy of 2 per bedroom plus 2 capped at 12, a local contact available 24 hours with a one-hour response, and fees of $500 new and $300 renewal. It also offers a real transfer path: if a new owner applies within 30 days of purchase, the licence may be transferred. That is more favourable than most of Benzie County. | Josh Mills — (231) 325-5202 |
| Village of Benzonia A straightforward permit, no cap | PERMIT | The village runs a documented STR permit programme under its zoning ordinance, effective 28 November 2023, with no cap. Requirements include liability insurance, smoke detectors in each bedroom and a carbon monoxide detector on each floor, a local agent available 24 hours who responds within 60 minutes, the permit number in all advertising, and the villages Good Visitor Guidelines given to renters. The commonly quoted fee schedule — $200 biannual plus a $50 application, a $100 re-inspection fee, and a two-year cycle expiring in even years with renewals due 31 October — could not be verified from a retrievable source, so confirm the current numbers. Whether a permit survives a sale is not stated; ask before closing. | Sara Kirk, Zoning Administrator — (231) 882-9981 |
| Village of Elberta Capped at 25, never filled — but watch the frequency rule | PERMIT | Ordinance 37 caps licences at 25 per calendar year, first-come first-served, and the cap has never been reached: 18 approved in 2023, 20 in 2024, 19 in 2025 and 19 in 2026, leaving roughly six slots. Fee $250. The rule most people miss is rental frequency: a rental must run 7 to 27 days, and if you rent for under seven days you may only do ONE rental per week. That materially limits nightly turnover. Licences run 1 January to 31 December with renewals due 15 December, and do NOT transfer — a buyer files a fresh application and competes for that years remaining slots. Occupancy 2 per bedroom plus 2 capped at 12, excluding under-threes, plus a 10 daytime-guest limit. A designated representative must be within 60 minutes with a 24-hour phone. $500,000 liability insurance. No camping on the parcel. | Rachel Perkins, Village Clerk — (231) 352-7201 |
| Village of Lake Ann No cap, but the licence does not transfer | PERMIT | Short-Term Rental Ordinance 2024-01 requires a licence to rent for fewer than 30 nights. There is no cap and no per-owner limit. Occupancy is 2 per legally conforming bedroom or studio plus 2, or the Benzie County Health Department well and septic limit, whichever is less. The local contact must be within 60 minutes travel, responding immediately to emergencies and within two days otherwise. The licence is non-transferable, renewed annually, and expires 31 December. Penalties escalate $50, $250, $500 with revocation on a third violation. The surrounding Almira Township could not be verified — check both. | Gary Florip — lakeannzoningadm@gmail.com |
| Gilmore Township No ordinance found — confirm directly | VERIFY | No STR ordinance appears on the township site, so regulation appears to run through general zoning classifications only. That is an absence of evidence rather than a confirmed absence of rules, so confirm before closing. Remember that Michigan case law does not treat township silence as permission. The Village of Elberta sits inside this township and is separately capped at 25 licences a year. | Josh Mills, Zoning Administrator — (231) 352-7117 · cell (231) 651-9117 |
| Joyfield Township Could not be verified | VERIFY | No working township website could be located, so neither the absence of an STR ordinance nor the reported 2025 zoning updates could be confirmed. The likely position is unregulated, but that is an inference. Confirm directly, and remember that silence in a Michigan zoning ordinance is not the same as permission. | Betsy Evans — (231) 383-2798 |
| Village of Beulah Could not be verified | VERIFY | No working village website could be located, so the commonly cited November 2022 amendment establishing permit applications and fees is currently unsupported by any source we could reach. Treat the permit process here as unknown and confirm directly before writing an offer. | Village zoning — (231) 360-2557 |
| Village of Honor Ordinance still pending, still unconfirmed | VERIFY | A drafted STR ordinance was presented in May 2024 and the village publishes no adopted STR ordinance, so the pending characterisation still holds — but nothing could be confirmed either way from the villages own materials. Rules could land at any time. Confirm status directly before closing. | Rosemary Naulty — (937) 536-9501 |
| Colfax Township Joint zoning, no STR rules | OPEN | Governed by the Greater Thompsonville Area Zoning Ordinance shared with Weldon Township and the Village of Thompsonville, effective 15 May 2015, which contains no short-term rental provisions at all. Likely unregulated and well positioned for river and nature-based tourism near Sleeping Bear Dunes. Because the three jurisdictions share one document, village and township rules match here. | Angel Kraft, Zoning Administrator — (231) 970-1560 |
| Platte Township Shares Benzonias ordinance — no STR provisions | OPEN | Not a standalone unregulated township. Platte is a co-adopter of the West Benzie Joint Zoning Ordinance together with Benzonia Township — the ordinance names both on its title page. There are no dedicated STR provisions in it, so open is directionally right, but you are reading Benzonias rules. The same bed and breakfast owner-occupancy requirement and the orphaned one-week rental cottage definition apply. Good positioning for river and nature-based tourism near Sleeping Bear Dunes. | Jason Barnard, Zoning Administrator — (231) 882-4411 |
| Village of Thompsonville Shares one ordinance with two townships | OPEN | Unusual structure, and it works in a buyers favour: Thompsonville has no standalone zoning ordinance. It is governed by the Greater Thompsonville Area Zoning Ordinance, adopted jointly with Colfax and Weldon townships and effective 15 May 2015. That document contains no short-term rental provisions at all — no permit, no cap, no minimum stay. Bed and breakfasts are permitted by right in RC-1, RC-2, RR-1, RR-2 and Natural Rivers, a special use in R-1, R-2 and R-3, and prohibited in multi-family. Because all three jurisdictions share one ordinance, the village-versus-township trap does not apply here. | Angel Kraft, Zoning — (231) 970-1560 |
| Weldon Township Joint zoning with Colfax and Thompsonville, no STR rules | OPEN | Governed by the Greater Thompsonville Area Zoning Ordinance, a joint ordinance adopted with Colfax Township and the Village of Thompsonville, effective 15 May 2015. It still contains no short-term rental provisions of any kind — no permit, no cap, no minimum stay. Bed and breakfasts are permitted by right in the RC-1, RC-2, RR-1, RR-2 and Natural Rivers districts, a special use in R-1, R-2 and R-3, and prohibited in multi-family. Because the three jurisdictions share one document, the usual village-versus-township trap does not apply here. | Township office — (231) 378-2477 |
| Kalkaska County | |||
| Village of Kalkaska Five permits village-wide, and a moratorium on new ones | CLOSED | The most restricted jurisdiction in the five counties, and usually the least understood — the village website serves an incomplete certificate chain, which stops most people reading its code. Behind it: Title XI Chapter 121 caps short-term rental permits at FIVE village-wide, first-come first-served, at $250 a year, with applications due 15 May and licences running one year to 15 May. One dwelling unit per owner. Permits are not transferable and terminate on sale — a buyer joins a five-permit queue. Occupancy 2 per bedroom plus 2 per finished legal floor, absolute maximum 10. Quiet hours 10pm to 7am, fireworks prohibited. Violations run $100, then $250 with a 30-day suspension, then $500 and revocation. And the decisive fact: a moratorium on issuing any new short-term rental licences has been in force since 11 August 2025 under Ordinance 2025-013, to be revisited after one year — that revisit falls around 11 August 2026. Kalkaska Township around it is open and unregulated; do not assume the village follows it. | Village office — (231) 258-9191 |
| Clearwater Township The ordinance people cite was never adopted | VOLATILE | Correcting a widely circulated error: the STR ordinance dated 2021 and revised 2023 that appears in regional guides was NEVER adopted. It is absent from the townships adopted ordinance list, its signature block is blank, and there is no STR line in the fee schedule. So today there is no STR ordinance in force. But a far more restrictive draft is pending: $300 application plus $500 per year per dwelling, a licence that expires on transfer of ownership, and — in the R-1 single-family district — a maximum of 28 rental days per calendar year with a five-day minimum stay and a twelve-occupant limit. A motion to send it to legal failed 2-2 in December 2025, public forums were held in May 2026, and the board had still not voted as of 18 June 2026. If adopted, that 28-day cap ends STR investment here. Watch this one. | John West, Zoning Administrator — township office (231) 331-6249 |
| Bear Lake Township County-zoned, and Resort Residential is not an STR permit | UNREGULATED | Commonly cited as having resort zoning that recognises short-term rentals. It does not. Bear Lake is COUNTY-zoned, so the Kalkaska County ordinance governs, and its Resort-Residential district permits one and two-family dwellings, mobile homes and summer cottages — boarding and tourist homes and bed and breakfast inns require a Special Use Permit. There are no STR provisions anywhere in the county ordinance. So unregulated is right, but note county section 2.05: uses not specifically listed are prohibited. That is silence with teeth, not a green light. | Kalkaska County Zoning: Shelly Pringle — (231) 258-3367 · Township hall (231) 258-4871 |
| Blue Lake Township Self-zoned, no STR ordinance found | OPEN | One of the five self-zoned Kalkaska townships. No STR ordinance was found on the township site, though the ordinance text could not be retrieved, so treat this as likely rather than confirmed. Low regulation with good lake access — one of the more investor-friendly spots in the region. Careful when searching: bluelaketownship.org is a different Blue Lake Township in Muskegon County. | Township hall — (231) 587-8354 |
| Boardman Township Self-zoned, no STR provisions | OPEN | One of the self-zoned Kalkaska townships with a retrievable ordinance, and it contains no short-term rental provisions. Lodging, boarding and tourist homes appear only as a permitted use in the Commercial district, not in residential ones. Among the lowest entry prices in the five-county region. As everywhere in Michigan, an ordinance that is silent is not the same as an ordinance that permits — confirm before you close. | Township office — boardmantownshipmi.net |
| Coldsprings Township County-zoned, no STR provisions | OPEN | Administered by Kalkaska County. The county zoning ordinance contains no short-term rental provisions, so entry is open and inexpensive. Note county section 2.05: uses not specifically listed are prohibited, so silence here has teeth. Confirm with county zoning before closing. | Kalkaska County Zoning: Shelly Pringle — (231) 258-3367 |
| Excelsior Township County-zoned, no STR provisions | OPEN | Administered by Kalkaska County. The county zoning ordinance contains no short-term rental provisions, so entry is open and inexpensive. Note county section 2.05: uses not specifically listed are prohibited, so silence here has teeth. Confirm with county zoning before closing. | Kalkaska County Zoning: Shelly Pringle — (231) 258-3367 |
| Garfield Township (Kalkaska) Self-zoned, no STR provisions | OPEN | One of the self-zoned Kalkaska townships. Its zoning ordinance contains no short-term rental provisions, and unlisted uses route to a Special Land Use Permit rather than being flatly prohibited — a slightly friendlier posture than the county ordinance takes. Among the lowest entry prices in the region. Office open Tuesdays 8 to 1. | Township office — (231) 369-2483 |
| Kalkaska Township County-zoned, no STR provisions | OPEN | Administered by Kalkaska County rather than the township. The county zoning ordinance contains no short-term rental provisions, so entry is open and among the cheapest in the region. Two cautions: county section 2.05 makes any use not specifically listed a prohibited use, and section 21.13 \"Transient Occupancies\" is about guest trailers and mobile homes, not rentals — do not let anyone cite it at you as an STR rule. The Village of Kalkaska inside this township is the single most restricted jurisdiction in all five counties. | Kalkaska County Zoning: Shelly Pringle — (231) 258-3367 |
| Oliver Township County-zoned, no STR provisions | OPEN | Administered by Kalkaska County. The county zoning ordinance contains no short-term rental provisions, so entry is open and inexpensive. Note county section 2.05: uses not specifically listed are prohibited, so silence here has teeth. Confirm with county zoning before closing. | Kalkaska County Zoning: Shelly Pringle — (231) 258-3367 |
| Orange Township County-zoned, no STR provisions | OPEN | Administered by Kalkaska County. The county zoning ordinance contains no short-term rental provisions, so entry is open and inexpensive. Note county section 2.05: uses not specifically listed are prohibited, so silence here has teeth. Confirm with county zoning before closing. | Kalkaska County Zoning: Shelly Pringle — (231) 258-3367 |
| Rapid River Township Self-zoned, no ordinance located | OPEN | One of the self-zoned Kalkaska townships, but no ordinance text is posted anywhere retrievable, so the absence of STR rules is likely rather than confirmed. Among the lowest entry prices in the region. One practical warning: the old rapidrivertownship.org domain is now a squatted retail site despite still being linked from the county page — do not use it. | Creston Scheel, Zoning Administrator — (231) 258-2943 ext. 3 |
| Springfield Township County-zoned, no STR provisions | OPEN | Administered by Kalkaska County. The county zoning ordinance contains no short-term rental provisions, so entry is open and inexpensive. Note county section 2.05: uses not specifically listed are prohibited, so silence here has teeth. Confirm with county zoning before closing. | Kalkaska County Zoning: Shelly Pringle — (231) 258-3367 |
Questions Buyers Actually Ask
Which Northern Michigan jurisdictions still have short-term rental permits available in 2026?
Bingham Township had 7 of its 86 licences open as of 19 June 2026, first come first served. The Village of Elk Rapids is issuing despite being widely described as closed: its own 2026 list shows 66 active registrations, 12 of them granted in the first five months of 2026. The Village of Fife Lake has no cap at all. Mayfield Township runs a permit at $500 initial and $250 renewal. The Village of Elberta caps at 25 and has never filled it. East Bay, Elmwood, Cleveland and the Village of Suttons Bay are full.
Does a short-term rental permit transfer when you buy the house?
Usually not, and it is the most expensive mistake made in this market. In the Village of Suttons Bay the permit is void at closing and no new ones are issued until the count falls from 53 to the cap of 45. Milton Township licences are void on transfer, with only immediate-family and certain trust transfers surviving. Frankfort permits terminate at closing and cannot be assigned, though a buyer who contacts the city within 15 days has a succession window under city policy. Village of Kalkaska permits terminate on sale. Fife Lake Township licences expire on change of ownership. A pending Village of Elk Rapids ordinance would add the same restriction.
Can you run a short-term rental in the City of Traverse City?
The zoning district decides everything. A tourist home is owner-occupied room rental and is allowed in residential districts. A vacation home rental is the whole house with no owner present, and it is permitted only in commercial and mixed-use districts. Note that the city sits in two counties: most of it is in Grand Traverse, and the Morgan Farms area annexed in 1989 lies in Leelanau County under the same city code.
Can you Airbnb a house on Old Mission Peninsula?
No. Peninsula Township prohibits rentals under 30 days in every zoning district, and a March 2025 board resolution set civil fines escalating to $5,000 with each day treated as a separate offence.
Why do villages have different rules from the township around them?
Because a Michigan village is a separate municipality with its own zoning authority. The Village of Fife Lake has no cap while Fife Lake Township caps at 8% of parcels. The Village of Kalkaska sits under a moratorium and a five-permit ceiling while Kalkaska Township has no rules at all. The Village of Empire is moving to permit while Empire Township’s position is unresolved. Always check the tax record for the exact jurisdiction before writing an offer.
Is Michigan going to override local short-term rental ordinances?
Not as of August 2026. HB 6027 would bar local total bans only, and it has sat in the House Committee on Government Operations since 2 June 2026 with no hearing. Its companion HB 6026 would add a statewide registry and a 6% excise tax. Nothing in the pipeline would preempt local zoning outright.
Which townships have no short-term rental rules at all?
Several Antrim County townships have no zoning and therefore no rules, including Chestonia, Custer, Echo, Jordan, Star and Warner. The entry price is low and so is the protection: with no zoning, nothing prevents an incompatible use opening next door. Elsewhere, a township with no located ordinance is marked VERIFY rather than open, because silence is not permission.
What happens if you run an unlicensed short-term rental here?
It varies more than people expect. Elmwood Township contracts a compliance monitoring firm and runs a 24-hour complaint line. Peninsula Township fines escalate to $5,000 per day. Fife Lake Township and Green Lake Township both carry $500-a-day maximums. Milton Township caps you at six rental weeks a year regardless of licence. Enforcement in this region is not theoretical.
Before You Write an Offer, Let’s Talk.
Every jurisdiction here is a moving target. Before you write an offer we will verify the current ordinance, cap status, septic limit and any pending change, so you do not buy into a surprise.
Taylor and Janel Brown are a mother-son team at Real Estate One in Traverse City. We know these townships, the administrators and the market.
Taylor Brown — (231) 360-1510 — Taylor@taylorbrownrealtor.com
